Sanitas Radio | Because your health and longevity should not be classified information.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Why Experts Now Think You Should Eat More Fat

Less Carbs, More Fat

For more than half a century, the conventional wisdom
among nutritionists and public health officials was that fat is dietary
enemy number one – the leading cause of obesity and heart disease.

It appears the wisdom was off. And not just off. Almost entirely backward.

According to a new study from the National Institutes of Health,
a diet that reduces carbohydrates in favor of fat – including the
saturated fat in meat and butter – improves nearly every health
measurement, from reducing our waistlines to keeping our arteries clear,
more than the low-fat diets that have been recommended for generations.
"The medical establishment got it wrong," says cardiologist Dennis
Goodman, director of Integrative Medicine at New York Medical Associates. "The belief system didn't pan out."

It's not the conclusion you would expect given the NIH study's
parameters. Lead researcher Lydia Bazanno, of the Tulane University
School of Public Health, pitted this high-fat, low-carb diet against a
fat-restricted regimen prescribed by the National Cholesterol Education
Program. "We told both groups to get carbs from green, leafy vegetables,
because those are high in nutrients and fiber to keep you sated," says
Bazanno. "We also told everyone to stay away from trans fats." The
fat-restricted group continued to eat carbs, including bread and
cereals, while keeping saturated fat – common in animal products – below
7 percent of total calories. By contrast, the high-fat group cut carbs
in half and did not avoid butter, meat, and cheese. Most important, both
groups ate as much as they wanted – no calorie counting, no going
hungry.

One year later, the high-fat, low-carb group had lost three times as
much weight – 12 pounds compared with four – and that weight loss came
from body fat, while the low-fat group lost muscle. Even more persuasive
were the results of blood tests meant to measure the risk of heart
disease and diabetes. The high-fat group, despite eating nearly twice as
much saturated fat, still saw greater improvements in LDL cholesterol,
HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides. This was enough to improve their
scores on the Framingham Risk Calculator, a tool for predicting 10-year
risk of heart attack. The low-fat group, by contrast, saw no improvement
on their Framingham scores. "I think the explanation lies in how the
low-fat dieters filled the hole left by fat – they just ate more carbs,"
says Bazanno.levels low enough to force the body to burn fat again.